Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle
Situation: You’re going to upgrade your primary hard drive to something bigger, better and faster - however the primary hard drive is obviously what holds your operating system.
So now you’re faced with a choice.
As you may know, anytime you connect to a wireless network, you run the risk of someone “sniffing” your network traffic. Depending on what you are doing on the network such as sending emails or sensitive information (which you really shouldn’t do on a public wireless network anyway), there is the possibility someone could intercept [...]
There are times when you just have to ask the question "WHY?!", and this is one of those times.
Google has performed a Gmail upgrade for those still using Microsoft Internet Exploder Explorer 6. Yes, you read that correctly. Version 6. Not 7.
Evidently there’s still a fair amount of internet users getting by with version 6 [...]
For our readers that are audiophiles, you’re probably already aware that arguably the best radio (as in AM/FM with CD player) is the Bose Wave Music System, formerly known as the Wave Radio. Yes, it’s wickedly expensive however there is absolutely nothing that sounds better in such a small package. Those who have heard it [...]
One of the easiest ways to make money on the internet is to write electronic documents (i.e. a PDFs) and post them for sale. These documents could be about whatever you know. They can be short or long but longer is obviously better.
However you don’t want to put a whole bunch of time and [...]
A noticeable difference between Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 is the find on page feature. Firefox offers a very nice ’status bar’ type interface that is unobtrusive as you search for a specific word or phrase on the current page. IE7’s is a bit more antiquated as it is a cumbersome dialog box which can [...]
Literally defined, a "killer application" a.k.a. a "killer app" is software that is revolutionary and popular (must be both).
In layman’s terms, a killer app is the software giving you the reason to use a computer (or possibly a specific computer) in the first place.
The history of killer apps basically have two generations, that being pre-internet [...]
If you are trying to track down a specific process you think might be hogging your CPU power, rather than doing isolated ‘unit testing’, simply use Process Explorer to track down the culprit.
The steps are simple:
Open Process Explorer.
Locate the suspect process in the list and double-click it.
In the properties dialog, go to the ‘Performance Graph’ [...]
In the past I have posted links to several older/classic games which you can either download or play online, so today I am going to do the same with one exception: the game I am linking to is the open source version of the greatest game ever made, Civilization (this isn’t opinion… it’s a fact [...]
The Hacker's Nightmare gives you everything you need to know to protect your machine, in plain-English. Too important to make it complicated! Find Out More.
[PREMIUM]- So you’ve got a laptop, really love it and don’t want to let it go. It’s still fairly new but just out of warranty and the LCD monitor on the monitor is busted. You’ve either got a flickering screen, solid-colored horizontal or vertical lines or “blocks” of colors, however when you output the laptop [...]
I don’t like Google Docs. I don’t like Microsoft Office Live either. But I do like OpenOffice. A lot. Wondering if there was any means of using the OO suite online, I did some searching and found that yes, there is a way. It’s done thru Ulteo’s web site.
After signing up for a free account [...]
Very impressive are the reports I am seeing across the Internet about the percentages of users who are now using Google Chrome. Techcrunch, for example, reports 6.23% usage on their site.
So, I thought I’d check for PCMech.com. I went into Analytics, set the report to be from this last Tuesday (since that’s when Chrome was [...]
Giving credit where credit is due, the GOOG updated their Terms of Service for the Chrome browser. Section 11 now reads:
11. Content license from you 11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.
For [...]
To those using the Technical Preview version of Windows Live Writer (such as yours truly), you probably noticed a 30-day expiration notice.
The WLW team has stated this is a false expiration. You can continue on using the Tech Preview version just by clicking "Ask Me Later" and not worrying about it.
I’m glad this is [...]
There will be times when you have to call customer service, a.k.a. customer support a.k.a. the help desk.
If you are educated on how call center environments operate you will get better results.
Let’s start off with this:
The Big Question: Does asking for the manager really help?
NO. Speaking to a "higher level" will rarely get your issue [...]
If you print often, most likely you encounter the ‘useless page’ (the page with 2 lines at the end, a banner ad, etc.) quite frequently. These pages are a waste of ink and, more importantly, paper (trees). To help alleviate this problem, give GreenPrint a look.
GreenPrint’s approach is simple: it intelligently determines which pages are [...]
One of the things about being a geek is that we like finding odd ways to use existing technology. Google Docs has been around for a little while now and I am a fairly avid user. Part of the Google suite I don’t use much, though, is Spreadsheets. But, what uses might there be [...]
A computer technician spills the beans and makes available the knowledge he has charged clients hundreds in service fees for. It is Computer Secrets Unleashed. Find Out More.
By default when you use the OpenOffice Writer application it does not have page numbering enabled (much like all other word processor applications). To enable it only takes a few clicks for some footer configuration and inserting the appropriate field. It sounds confusing but it’s actually very simple to do.
Please Login or Register to [...]
I used to be a big fan of the Azureus BitTorrent client. Unfortunately, since it was rebranded to Vuze and became a BitTorrent client/media player/digital library/web browser/OS (exaggeration to prove a point) I’ve ditched it in favor of a more lightweight and a “does one thing well” approach BitTorrent client: BitTornado.
BitTornado is a minimal, yet [...]
Everybody has been talking about Google Chrome this week. First they announce using a comic book on Labor Day (slow news day), then they launch yesterday and it seemed everybody and their family was giving it a try. Some have gone so far as to make it their new default browser. Some even uninstalled [...]
Google Chrome is a web browser very recently released by Google. While Dave concentrated more on the “guts” of the browser, I concentrated more on its usability. What I discovered is that while Gmail and Yahoo! Mail work, the full version of Hotmail does not. The bookmark import from Firefox on initial install didn’t work. [...]
So you want to create your own forum. You’ve seen others (maybe the PCMech forums?) and thought “Hey that’s a good idea, I could use one of those.” After doing some quick research you probably found out that setting one up is a huge pain in the rump.
Not to worry, here’s the 101 on how [...]
Like everybody else in the world of early adopters of new technology, I downloaded and installed the new web browser: Google Chrome. Yes, while Google is the chief backer of Mozilla Firefox, they have decided to branch out and create their own web browser. It is available as of today for Windows only.
Getting Started with Ubuntu Linux
2 DVD Course To Get Even The Beginner Going with Ubuntu Linux.
September 3, 2008
How-To: Mass Rename Files in Windows XP/Vista
September 1, 2008
PCMech was founded by David Risley. David continues to operate the site today. David is assisted by Rich Menga, who does our videos and is a regular writer as well. More Info on our About Page.
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9/8/2008: Is Apple Turning Into Microsoft? [3:48m]: 
